Wednesday, February 11, 2009

NHL and Hockey Rumors for Feb 12, 2009

Speculation continues to mount that Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey will start making moves to pull his team out of their losing streak. The Canadiens held a players-only meeting right after their loss to the Calgary Flames, which actually violated NHL rules about player accessiblity immediately after games. Brochu's take: Gainey does have a history of making deadline moves, no matter how good or bad the team is doing. Remember Huet being traded last season?

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun believes that defenseman Senators defenseman Filip Kuba will gather a lot of interest as the trade deadline approaches, but Kuba controls his destiny with a no trade clause. Garrioch states that "it's believed the Bruins, Panthers, Sharks, Flames, Wild, [Blue] Jackets, Hurricanes and Flyers are among the teams looking for help on the blue line." Brochu's take: Hmm...didn't know Kuba had a no-trade clause. [Why?] His offensive skills could be valuable to a playoff contender. Source

Brochu's European rumor roundup:

According to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, goalie Ray Emery has returned to his KHL team, Atlant Mytishchi. “I talked to Ray on Monday, and we made the decision that he should go back [to Russia],” his agent, J.P. Barry, told ESPN.com on Tuesday. “I felt that he should finish what he started and that we would continue to work out the compensation issue. There was NHL interest here, but the problem was that even if he signed, he would have to clear waivers, and we had no idea where he would have ended up," Barry said. "He'll be an unrestricted free agent and can hit the market as early as May." Brochu's take: Hmmm, I wonder what NHL teams were interested? It looks more and more like Emery will be returning to North America in the summer. Source

Poll Results:

Do you think Vinny Lecavalier will be traded?

Yes
58 (45%)
No
69 (54%)

Total Votes: 127

Do you think firing Craig Hartsburg will save the Senators season?

Yes
4 (4%)
No
57 (63%)
Who cares
29 (32%)

Total Votes: 90

There are four veeeerry die-hard Senators fans! ;-)

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